UTJ Bill: Access to Emergency Hotlines via SMS, E-mail

A measure by Knesset members Uri Maklev, Moshe Gafni and Ya'akov Asher (United Torah Jewry) would require emergency telephone hotlines such as the police department's 100 and Magen David Adom's 101 to be accessible by SMS message service and e-mail.

The legislation was prompted by the current crisis surrounding the kidnapping of three teenage yeshiva students in Judea who were not fully able to receive help from the police when they were abducted. It seeks to make emergency services available to, among others, those who are in hiding and cannot talk and to the hearing impaired.